113 | Is Your Business Actually Profitable—Or Just Busy? Using Profit Pillars for Online Business Success

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Are you unclear on your numbers in your business? 

In this episode, I break down the Profit Pillars Book by Parker Charles Stevenson and share how to assess your business finances in a way that feels nourishing to your body, soul, and business growth. We’ll also explore how financial clarity supports a healthier money mindset, nervous system regulation, and sustainable financial planning.

Key Takeaways:

• How to evaluate your labor expenses to ensure your team fuels growth
• Tracking lead and conversion costs to maximize marketing ROI
• Understanding offer delivery costs and their impact on profit margins
• Keeping operating expenses aligned with your business needs
• Using this framework to gain clarity and confidence in your financial planning
• Recognizing and addressing money mindset blocks that may hold you back

Want to learn more or connect with me?

Step 1: Join my FREE Facebook Community.

Connect, share, and learn how to master your money with other women just like you.

➡️ Join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/941450038160915

Step 2: Grab your FREE Human Design chart

Curious what your Human Design chart reveals about how you're uniquely designed to make aligned financial decisions?

➡️ Get your chart here: https://generatealifewelllived.com/receive-your-human-design-chart

Step 3: Ready to transform your relationship with money and build true financial confidence?

Let’s create a plan that feels aligned, intentional, and empowering—just for you.

➡️ Schedule your free clarity call here (https://tidycal.com/eringray/30-min-call-with-erin)

Money doesn't have to feel overwhelming. Let's create a plan that feels nurturing and custom to you.

From my soul to yours,

Erin

Episode Transcript

Erin Gray (00:00):
Everything that I'm going to talk about today comes
directly from the book.
I highly recommend this bookfor multiple reasons that I'll
get into in this podcast, andI'm really going to give you my
take on how to use these pillarsin a way that actually feels
nourishing to your body, yoursoul and your business.
So if you're ready to startfeeling more grounded and clear

(00:24):
and confident about your moneyand in your business, this one's
for you.
Do you want to create a systemto stop avoiding your money?
Maybe you're feeling guilt andshame when it comes to your
finances.
Welcome to your Money, yourRules.
I'm Erin, a former certifiedfinancial planner and CFO, and
yet I used to avoid my money andhad fear, no matter how much we

(00:46):
had.
I can't wait to teach you how Iovercame my money avoidance and
started consistently managingmy finances in a really simple
way.
It's time to get comfortablewith money Before we dive in.
I want to offer that if thebackend of your business feels a
little messy, like maybe you'rehaving, or you do have,
inconsistent, you're looking atyour books inconsistently, you

(01:09):
are unclear on your cashflow ormaybe you just feel this nagging
sense that you're missingsomething I want you to know
that I've got you.
You don't have to keep avoidingit and you don't have to figure
this out alone.
I'm going to help you get clear, get organized and fully
grounded in your numbers so thatyou and your business can feel
steady and spacious In ourone-on-one session.

(01:31):
Together, we're going to workthrough your business finances,
create a plan that actuallyworks for you, one that supports
your nervous system and yourgoals and your growth.
I invite you, let's get squaredaway.
You can head over to my website, generatealifewelllivedcom and
schedule your session.
Today.
I am breaking down the bookcalled Profit Pillars A Proven

(01:54):
System to Maximize the BottomLine in your Online Business, by
Parker Charles Stevenson.
Everything that I'm going totalk about today comes directly
from the book.
I highly recommend this bookfor multiple reasons that I'll
get into in this podcast, andI'm really going to give you my
take on how to use these pillarsin a way that actually feels

(02:15):
nourishing to your body, yoursoul and your business.
Okay, so there's four pillarsand the first pillar and it's in
no specific order, but what hedoes is he breaks it down into
four pillars and then thepercentages that he has seen in
online businesses, which arelike what is a good percentage,

(02:37):
profitability wise, what's anokay, and then what's kind of on
the excess or the outer.
You know where you might wantto start looking at.
Hmm, maybe I'm, uh, might bespending a little bit too much
in that area.
So the labor expense is one ofthe pillars and this includes,
like your contractors, so likeyour VA, copywriter, customer
service, ops manager, podcastperson that produces if you do

(02:59):
have a podcast social mediamanager, tech support just all
of your contractors that youemploy, and I shouldn't say
employee, because a 1099 is notsomeone, it's not an employee.
But you get what I'm, what Imean If you do have employees.
This also takes into accountyour owner pay, as well as any
type of payroll taxes, anythingof that sort.
Team morale.
You know, understanding yourlabor expenses, you really get

(03:20):
to see like, are all of thepeople that are on my team
really supporting the growth ofmy business in the best way?
You know if you are throwingspaghetti at the wall and you're
hiring without a strategy,sometimes that can lead to leaky
spots.
So it really you get to getclear on what are my labor
expenses.
So the second pillar is lead andconversion costs and this is,
you know, what does it actuallytake as a whole?
You know what am I spending toget clients.

(03:41):
So these pillars include likeadvertising, if you're paying
for.
You know social mediaadvertising, like Facebook, um,
any type of affiliate fees ormarketing costs.
You know merchant fees.
So, like your payment processor, like Stripe or whoever you use
as your um merchant fees.
So this pillar helps youevaluate you know if your

(04:05):
marketing investments areactually turning a profit.
You know, sometimes we willinvest in advertising, but if we
aren't clear on our message, itdoesn't matter how much money
we're pouring in to ourmarketing.
If our message isn't clear, noamount of fuel to the fire is
going to create the client right.

(04:25):
So it really gets you to see.
You know where.
What is my cost for.
You know getting clients and isthis going to be a sustainable
long-term strategy.
The third pillar is any type ofoffer delivery expenses.
So, like, what does thisactually cost or take to deliver

(04:46):
my service?
So this pillar includes, like,if you are, if you have a group
program, like, and you haveteachers or coaches or
instructors inside or guestspeakers, um, any type like if
you're doing some in-personevent, like event expenses, any
type of printing costs orproduct fulfillment, like if
you're mailing out workbooks orwhatever.
So you really just get to see,you know how much does it cost

(05:10):
to deliver on the promise thatyou make, you know.
And so if this pillar, if thepercentage, is too high, then
obviously it's going to impactthe overall profitability right
of your business.
So just taking a look andseeing, like okay, I have priced
it at this, but my profitmargin is X, is that in, is that
in alignment, you know, withthe percentages, or am I too

(05:33):
high to you know?
Am I really running lean?
Like what does that look like?
So it really you get reallyclear.
And then the last one isoperating expenses, right, so
this is all the backend stuff,like what I think about, like
what, what goes on, regardlessright Of how many clients you
have, um, what keeps thebusiness running right.

(05:53):
So this pillar includes, likelegal and tax insurance, any
type of professional fees thatyou might have, office supplies,
um technology, any type oftravel, computer expenses, bank
charges or annual fees forcredit cards, things like that.
And so these are just yourgeneral operating costs that are
necessary to keep your businessrunning smoothly.

(06:16):
And so really keeping these,looking at them, first of all
knowing what percentage you'reat and this is all going to be a
percentage of your total income, right?
So what are these costs inrelation to your total income
generated?
And so you really get to see.
You know where.
Where am I doing?
Well, what could I maybeimprove on?

(06:39):
And, and I think more thananything, you know when we get
clear on our numbers and then wewe start making decisions from
that place.
Like, like I said, if you aretrying to throw money at
marketing but you aren't clearon your message, let's just use
that as an example.
You might be throwing moneythat isn't actually going to be

(06:59):
an ROI for you, because really,what you need to look at is is
my message clear?
And I just use that as anexample.
But I think a lot of times wethink or maybe we need to be
doing more organic marketinginstead of paid.
So you just really get to bereally clear, and I think it's a
much better system for peoplewith an online business than a

(07:21):
brick and mortar.
And so questions that will letme recap, you know.
So the four pillars are yourlabor expenses, your lead and
conversion costs, your offerdelivery expenses and your
operating expenses.
And, like I said, when you gobuy the book, he breaks down

(07:42):
everything for you.
So either you or, if you have abookkeeper, you can literally
change this all in QuickBooks orwhatever your accounting
software is, so that when youpull your P and L, you'll be
able to see exactly what thosepercentages are, which is
amazing Like you can gain suchclarity in probably an hour,
hour and a half of implementingthis.
So some reflection questionsthat you can ask yourself is how

(08:05):
do I want to make my spendingdecision in each pillar more
intentional and more alignedwith my goals?
Like, first and foremost, likeanything right, awareness is key
, getting really clear on whereyou are and then moving forward
Once you know what yourpercentages are.
Okay, how do I want to, youknow, make sure that those
decisions that I'm making are inalignment with my goals?

(08:27):
And maybe you might have, like,what are some of my money
blocks when it comes to labor?
Like, if your labor is reallylow and you're feeling burnt out
and you're doing it allyourself, okay, why haven't you
hired someone?
What is going on from a beliefsystem standpoint, that is,
create, that is, you know, notallowing you to hire or you're

(08:49):
choosing not to hire someone.
What are some of those mindsetshifts that you might need to
make in order to hire someoneout?
So it may not be just with youknow labor, but do you have any
blocks when it comes to thesepillars right, lead conversion
or offer delivery or operatingexpenses or labor and really

(09:09):
getting clear, like, where are,where do you stand, what are
your numbers and where are someof your limiting beliefs?
Okay, that's what I've got foryou today.
If you want a space to exploremoney and mindset and business
in a way that honors who you areand where you're going, I would
love to invite you to join myfree Facebook group Money

(09:30):
Mindset Tips for Women inBusiness.
It's a space where we talkabout money, financial
strategies, nervous systemregulation and what it really
takes to build wealth as a womanin business.
No, you don't have to do thisalone.
Come be with us in a communitywith other women who are really
rewriting their money stories.

(09:51):
You can search on Facebook justmoney mindset tips for women in
business, or you can click thelink in the show notes and you
can join there.
I would love to welcome youthere and I look forward to
seeing you.
Okay, until next time.
I'll see you in the nextepisode.
I would love it if you wouldleave a review for this podcast.
It helps the show grow and Ilove hearing from you.

(10:12):
And if this episode resonatedwith you and you have a business
bestie who is also avoiding hermoney, will you share this
episode with her?
My mission is to help morefemale entrepreneurs feel safe
and empowered with their money.
Okay, I'll see you in the nextepisode.